Terminal for electric vapor or gas lamps.



N0. 687,883. Patented Dec. 3, mm. P. c. HEWITT.

TERMINAL FOB ELECTRIC VAPOR 0R GAS LAMPS.

(Application filed Apr. 18, 1900.]

(No Modelf;

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I Witnesses.-

m: Nonms PETERS co. PHOTOLFI'HO wAsnmm'ow, n. c

UNITED dramas To all whom itma concern.

, Bo itknown thatLPnrnn (Journal-lawns a citizen of the United. States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and convenient and durable leading-iu conductors, terminals, or electrodes for the lamp adapted to convey currents of large quantity.

i In another application I have described a form of lamp having a conducting vapor or gas which isso organized and proportioned as to become intensely luminous under the influence of considerable electric current having a moderate electromotive force.

: My present'invention consistsin providing for one or both of the electrodes or leadingin conductors of such a lamp a disk, cup, or

other suitablyshaped plate, of platinum, iron, or other material, having a relatively large area sealed into the walls of the inclosing chamber of thelamp. The inner surface of the disk may itself constitute an electrode,

or, if desired, another body may be connected therewith and form the electrode.

, In the ac ompanying drawings, illustratform of lamp provided with electrodes manufactured in accordance with the invention, and Figs. 2, 3 4, 5, and 6 illustrate modifica- 4otions.

Referring to Fig. 1, the inclosing chamber of the lamp is represented at 1, being in this instance a lJ-shaped tube. At the upper ends i )i! the arms of this tube are placed the lead 1 ing-in conductors or the electrodes 2 and 5. 1 I have shown these as consisting of disks or i plates of suitable metal, such as platinum, i having a coefficient of expansion, approni i, mately the same as that of glass; but other .disks may be corrugated. They are sealed 5 5 State of New York, haveinventcd certain new The object of the invention is to provide 1 ing the invention, Figure 1 illustrates one conducting materials may be used and the.

rat attests ,ATENT iuucn.

PETER COOPER HEWITT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO PETER COOPER HEWITT, TRUSTEE, OF NEW YORK, NY.

TERMINAL FOR ELECTRIC VAPOR'OR GAS LAMPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 687,883, dated December 3, 1901.

Application filed April 18. 1000. Burial NOJIBJQZ. (No model.)

(see Figs. 2 and 3) iuclosing it, which chsinhor may in turn be exhausted, in which case the current may be led through it by the same leading-in conductors connected with the respective disks 2 and. 5. The purpose of ex handling the chamber 14 is to lower the boilingpoint of the fluid contained therein, the degree of exhaustion being dependent upon the temperature at which it may be desired that the iluidsball boil. In this'way tlie'cooling ellect of the chamber may be adjusted. The vapor condensed on the walls returns to its original position. The lamp is provided with a suitable vapor to form a conducting medium when the lamp is in operation-such,

foninstance, as may be obtained from mercury. In lhedrawings n smallglobule of mercury is represented at 10, and when thelamp is in operation more or less of this mercury may be volatilized to afford the requisite density of Vapor. In starting the lamp heat may be applied in any convenient manner, or the lamp may be provided in the course of its manufacture with a starting material which will facilitate-the passage of l he elm-trio cu rront at start ing. I usually employ currents of higher potential for starting than are required for operating the lamp, and l have found it advantngoons in some cases to surround the lamp at or near the cathode by a cmiductiug materialsuch, for instance, as a band 9-i.vhich in turn is connected by a conductan- 13 with the load ing-in conductor 7. A similar band may be placed around the electrode ii, as indicated in dotted lines, and connet'ited with the leadingin conductor 8.

In Fig. 2 a modification is illustrated in which a straight tubular lamp is provided with the disks 2 and 5 at its respective ends. The disk 2 in this instance forms a portion of a wall of a chamber at at the end of the By the expression disk or pinto I refer trant tube 4". The chamber tservcs as e cooling and impuritycontaining chamber when the lamp is in operation. The electrode .5 at the bottom of the lamp may be supplemented by a qunntity of fluid mercury 5.

chamber 14 is shown 'in Fig. 2 as. superposedupon the chamber 4. It contains a suitable vnporizable material 17. The chamber l t may be open to the air through a passage 18, 1e containing n regulatingwnlve 19. By means of this vnlve the rate of cooling effected by the chamber 14 niny be regulated, since the rate of evaporation of the cooling fluid and its escape to the air may be adjusted, or the senses x 5 passage '18 may be permanently closed when the required. degree of exhaustion has been obtained in the chamber 14. This will. serve to regulate the current received by the lam p, for within limits the temperature oi the lamp determines the current which it will receive under the influence of a constant electrometive force.

Referring to Fig. 3, n modification is illustrated in which the chamber 14 is closed, but

is provided with menus for causing a circu-' lation of the cooling fluid. In this instance the means-consists of u tube 15, extending from a point near the bottom of the chamber to s point in the upper portion of the chamher. Suitable openings are provided near the bottom of the tube, no that the heated fluid may enter the tube and, passing upward, escape at the top, thus causing a continuous circulation. The plate 2 ishere shown as projecting inwardly to permit of expansionnnd contraction without exerting undue tension at the edges where it is sea d andnt the same time exposing alarge surface. This plate may project into the chamber 14, as indicejted in Fig. 4.

In Fig. 5 a modification is illustrated in which the reentering tube is partially filled with radiating metallic wires 1 l, which serve in a. measure to dissipate the heat from the disk 2.

" In Fig. 6a modification is shown in which the tube 1 is inverted and the'ends placed in a suitable receptacle 16, containing cooling material 17.

to any suitable form or slinpe such, for example, as a cup or tubnlarform, the lip or flange of which is sealed into the glass I claim as my invention-- 1. In an electric lamp,-en electrode conind/hi sisting-ot n. platinum or equivalent'dlsk or plate sealed into the wall of the lnmp, snd mercury superposed thereon.

2, in an electric lump, an electrode consisting of a. disk or plate of metal sealed into the wall thereof, a cooling'chamborsurrounding: the exposed face of the plate, and a rolei-ilizable iiuid hermetically incloscd therein.

3. In an electric lnm p hnving a vapor orgas' pnth, a cooling or bent-radiating chamber exterior to the lamp, for regulnting the effective radiation thereof.

In an electriclump having-n vapor or gas path, a cooling or hczttrndicting chamber exterior to the lamp, :1 channel leading from the.

said chamber to the air, and a, valve controlling the said channel.

5. An electric illuminating device, consisting of a, pair ofelectrodes, aninclosing chnmher and a conducting gas or vapor rendered luminous bytlic passage of an electric current therethrough, the said electrodes being adapted to conduct currents oficonsiderable quantity, and one or both consistiingofn disk or plate of metal sealed into the wall of the inclosing chamber, whereby currents of sufficient quantity to render the vapor luminous can be conducted through the lamp.

6. An electric illuminating device, consisting of n psirof electrodes, nn inclosing ohamher and a conducting gas or vapor rendered luminous by the passage of an electric current therethrough, the said electrodes being adnptcd'to conduct currents of considerable quantity, and one or both consisting of a disk or. plate of metal sealed into the wall of the inclosing; chamber, the said disk or disks being located in reentrcnt portions of the wall of the lamp, whereby currents of sufficient quantity to render the vapor luminous can be conducted through the lamp.

7. In an electric lump having two electrodes and an intervening conducting vapor or gas, an electrode consisting of a. disk or plate of' metal sealed into the Well thereof, rob

and a supplementary heat-radiating device for conducting the'heat from said disk' or plate. Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 23d day of March, A) D. 1900.

PETER COOPER HEWITT.

Witnesses:

WM. I-I. CAPEL, CHARLES B. HILL. 

